TVSquad

A third season of Ricky Gervais' Extras is in the works. This is good news for Gervais fans as the show was rumored to be getting a self-imposed axe after season two a la The Office. But, Gervais is back, and he's got a dilly of guest-star wish list.

For season three, he's looking to snag Meryl Streep, Bruce Willis, Dick van Dyke, Mickey Rooney and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Considering that the show has managed to score Ben Stiller, Kate Winslet, Samuel L. Jackson, David Bowie, Orlando Bloom and David Bowie in the past, Gervais shouldn't have any trouble. My personal fave was the episode with Daniel Radcliffe and Diana Rigg. Seeing Harry Potter send a "johnny" flying into Dame Rigg's hair is worth the price of premium cable. And, as far as celebrities taking themselves down a peg, going on Gervais' Extras seems a far better tactic than hosting SNL or waiting around to screw-up and then make a public apology on The Tonight Show. At least with Gervais, you know that you'll actually come off as funny.

God damn it, Monk takes a midseason break and then tosses one new episode out in November and I totally miss it. What's doubly upsetting about that is I'm the one who posted about it in October. This may be a sign that my plan to stop reviewing the show is a good idea. I still love Monk, and I'll keep watching it, but I find I just don't have as much to say about it as I do other shows. Monk is kind of like popcorn to me: it's a lot of fun, and when it's all gone I wish I could have more, but there's just not a lot I have to say about it once it's over.

Now then, before the fifth season finishes off in January, there will be another episode airing on December 22, "Mr. Monk and the Leper." I'll try not to miss that one, though being so close to Christmas, who knows what'll happen? The episode will actually air twice, once in black and white (9 pm) and again in color (10 pm).

The latter half of the fifth season, which kicks off January 19, will feature several guest stars including Sean Astin, Steven Weber, Charles Durning and Andy Richter, among others.

(S02E06) Sometimes having guest stars on your sitcom is a boon; seeing well-known actors or other celebrities mix with the established cast is great to watch and makes the episode memorable. But a lot of other times, bringing in a guest star dampens the chemistry of that established cast and slows down the comedic flow of the show, almost bringing it to screeching halt.

This week's HIMYM episode has two guest stars: Bryan Cranston as Ted's touchy boss, and Jane Seymour as Marshall's testy law professor. And, in this case, one guest star gave us a good result and the other gave us a bad one. I'll tell you who's who after the jump. You might be surprised at who I thought was the chemistry killer.

Isn't it always interesting to learn who's going to guest star on your favorite show? I definitely like reading these press releases, mainly because I like hearing how some sort of high-profile guest is going to affect the chemistry of an established ensemble. It's especially important with sitcoms, because you never know if the guest's comic ability (if they have any) will mesh well with that of the show's cast.

But I don't think I'm going to have anything to worry about when Jane Seymour and Bryan Cranston guest on the Oct. 25th episode of How I Met Your Mother. According to this press release, Seymour plays a law professor of Marshall's that Barney hits on to help his buddy get better grades, and Cranston plays Ted's crappy boss. Seeing these two veterans with the younger (but no less experienced) cast should make for a pretty funny episode.

[via The Futon Critic]

I managed to get a copy of the first three episodes of the new season of My Name Is Earl yesterday, and I watched the first episode "Very Bad Things" last night. After a successful first season and a summer of wondering how the show will evolve, I, at the very least, got a chance to get some perspective on how things will go.

The guest train at Everybody Hates Chris continues to chug along. First it was announced that Whoopi Goldberg would appear in a couple of episodes of the Chris Rock-produced comedy. Now comes word that Jason Alexander will be appearing in two episodes, playing the principal of Corleone Junior High, where the title character goes to school. He will also direct an episode.

Hm. I wonder if these high-profile guest spots are happening because stars saw the show last year and liked it, or is this an attempt by the producers to garner a bit of attention for a show that seemed to get lost in the shuffle last year? Not sure. But its Sunday at 7 timeslot isn't exactly going to encourage me to watch.

The Simpsons has been using guest stars since the very first season. Some have returned on several occasions, sometimes as different characters (Albert Brooks), sometimes as the same character (Kelsey Grammer), and sometimes as both (Jon Lovitz). By my calculations there have been exactly twelve thousand guest stars on the show so far, so obviously a list of just five is going to be lacking just a tad. Nevertheless, these are five guest stars who stick out in my mind. Got some more? That's what the comments are for. Here we go:

Albert Brooks: Brooks first appeared in season one as Jacques, the man with the fake French accent who tries to woo Marge away from Homer with his knowledge of bowling and women. He later appeared as Hank Scorpio, a rather paradoxical character who is both very friendly and yet extremely evil. I think my favorite Brooks episode, however, was the episode "The Heartbroke Kid" when he played Tab Spangler, a ticking time bomb of a coach who tries to coerce Bart back to health after Bart gains weight and suffers a heart attack. "Every sign is wrong!" He'll also be appearing in the Simpsons movie, which is very cool.

I am going to limit this rant to Law and Order since it is the primary offender when it comes to putting guest stars on its many, many shows. It's as though the writers can't help but make every single celebrity guest star the guilty person! Do they know it is a dead giveaway to the viewers? If I see Dean Cain, Fred Savage, or Dana Delany as a seemingly minor character in the beginning of the show, I know they'll end up on trial or at least be the guilty ones by the end of the episode. Last night, I was watching a rerun of Criminal Intent where Lee Tergesen from Oz appeared as a minor character in the beginning. Guess who ended up being guilty of murder? Surprise, surprise. I remember Julia Roberts being on the original Law and Order during season nine, does anyone remember whether she was guilty?